Eric nodded. He was grinning from ear to ear. It infuriated Nathan that he always appeared to be so bloody pleased with himself. If he didn’t have some worthwhile information he was going to feel the full extent of Nathan’s rage.

‘Yep. And you will never believe what I found out,’ Eric said.

‘What?’ Nathan snapped, his patience already waning.

‘It’s the Carters.’

‘No.’ Nathan shook his head. ‘If it was the Carters, I’d know. Sean was always the brains and he’s legit now, as hard as that is to believe, it’s true.’

‘Yeah, that is true. But Sean is no longer the brains behind them. And this is the good part, Nathan. You would never guess in a million years who is.’

‘Tell me then,’ he barked.

‘Grace,’ Eric said and sat back in his chair.

Nathan must have misheard. ‘Grace?’

‘Yep.’

‘My Grace?’

‘Yep.’

‘No fucking way,’ he said. ‘That’s impossible. Grace?’ There was no way that could be true. Grace didn’t have it in her. She was one of the most naive people he’d ever met. How the hell could she have become a fucking criminal mastermind? It just wasn’t possible.

‘I didn’t believe it myself at first, mate. But it’s true. It wasn’t easy to find out either. Took me a lot of man hours, and I had to call in a load of favours. People are surprisingly loyal to her. She must be doing something right.’

Nathan shook his head. Surely this was a wind-up?

But then, like a half-completed puzzle, the solution of which had eluded him for so long, pieces of information started to fit neatly together. Grace’s connection to the Carters. Her new-found backbone of titanium. The way she stood up to him like she wasn’t afraid of him anymore. Her flash car. The designer gear. The big house. Jesus Christ! Eric was right. Grace Conlon was his competitor. No wonder he hadn’t been able to find out who it was before now. Never in a million years would he have thought his quiet, mousy little wife had it in her. She’d obviously learned a thing or two from him. The devious little bitch.

Nathan started to laugh while Eric looked on warily. This was going to be easy. He was going to destroy her, and her little empire. He would muscle in on every aspect of her business – every part of her life, and he would enjoy every second of it. She might think she could get one over on him, but he had the most effective weapon anyone could wish for – their son.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‘Mind if I head off a bit early tonight, boss. I’ve got a hot date,’ Marcus asked Grace as he closed the till.

‘A hot date? It’s almost midnight?’ she said.

‘I know,’ he grinned at her. ‘He’s a night owl.’